Friday 22 December 2006

Sound For TV

When we watch TV we can take for granted the impact sound has on pictures. When a persons mouth moves as they talk we expect to hear their voice. When a car crashes we expect to hear the squeal of tyres and the crunch of metal. Sound can add emotion, drama-or tension.
A Professional Sound Recordist brought in his equipment(Shotgun mike and boom) and shared some of his techniques for location recording.
In the afternoon for a practical exercise we made our way 2 locations.
The first of these was on a busy road.
Our task was to record an interview with 2 subjects capturing the best sound possible without getting the boom in shot or too much noise from passing traffic. Not the easiest of tasks!
The second location was on the pedestrian high street-again recording an interview. The problem with this location was the crowds. With such a sensitive mike people conversations could be picked up very easily. As the weather made a turn for the worst we had to take cover but the sound of the rain hammering down onto the pavement made for an interesting recording subject!

Media Consumption And Gratification

Consumption and gratification. Sounds sordid, but it really isn’t. It’s the needs that the media we consume, fulfils. Our needs fall somewhere within these two criteria. Number one, emotional. That’s needs such as curiosity, sex and adventure. And number two, rational. That’s needs like shopping, banking and news. We all do both in our consumption of media.
The media diary that I have kept over the last week has shed some light on the way in which I personally consume media.
I consumed 16.3 hours of media in total during the week. 7 hours of which was T.V. that’s roughly in line with my demographic, that’s the 30 year old age group. Watching news in the morning fell in to rational consumption whilst something like the Jonathon Ross show falls squarely into the emotional category.
In contrast I only listened to 2 hours of radio during the week and 90% of the time I listened alone so I guess you could say I used it as it something of a companion.
The total amount of non-linear media I consumed was relatively small and almost always fell in the category of rational consumption as I tend to use the internet to communicate with others, shop and news.

Script Writing For Radio

How do you approach AIDS as an interview topic? If you think that sounds like a challenge, you’d be right! The task was four fold.
Establish the interview parameters, formulate questions, Write a script and produce the interview.
Establishing the perimeters of the interview require some thought.
Consideration needs to be given to the angle or approach the interviewer takes with this topic. Will you be sympathetic to the interviewee, let your views colour the interview, or will you remain impartial.
Friend or professional. It’s up to you.
Should the mood be light or informative and are there questions that may be taboo. Are you gay? How did you catch AIDS? Have you worked in the sex industry? What about the ignorance, stereotypes and prejudices surrounding AIDS. The questions can shape the interview.
Having written the questions, it’s useful to consider an introduction. How will you portray the subject? First impressions last.
For example, we could say “ Ken has been battling AIDS for six months” or perhaps “Ken has been suffering from AIDS for six months”. One word can change the way we imagine the subject.
Also introducing the piece as a whole is key. Perhaps begin the piece with a fact or a statement to stir the listeners’ imagination. After all, it’s a fact-the listener will turn off during the first thirty seconds if they’re not entertained.